MacRumors

Apple's long-rumored AR/VR headset will enter mass production in October and launch by December, according to investment firm Morgan Stanley. Apple is still expected to unveil the headset at WWDC next week, and provide developers with tools to create apps for the device, which is expected to have its own App Store.

"While we expect Apple's AR/VR headset to be unveiled next week, our supply chain checks suggest mass production won't start until October '23, with general availability most likely ahead of the December holidays," said Erik Woodring, an Apple analyst at Morgan Stanley, in a research note obtained by MacRumors.

Apple's supply chain is preparing to assemble only 300,000 to 500,000 headsets in 2023, according to Woodring. As widely rumored, he believes the headset will have a starting price of around $3,000, and he expects gross margins to be "close to breakeven at first," suggesting that Apple will initially make minimal profits on the device.

Morgan Stanley also reiterated that Apple plans to announce a new MacBook Air at WWDC, but it's unclear if this information is independently sourced or simply corroborating other rumors. Apple's keynote begins on Monday, June 5 at 10 a.m. Pacific Time.

Apple is calling on experts with backgrounds in generative AI to work with the company's "most advanced technologies," including augmented and virtual reality, according to new job listings posted by the company.

One new listing posted on Apple's jobs website, highlighted by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, seeks a software engineer in Cupertino to work on machine learning models to build apps related to augmented and virtual reality.

AI represents a huge opportunity to elevate Apple's products and experiences for billions of people globally. Apple's Learning Technology Group is looking for Machine-Learning engineers with a background and/or interest in Conversational and Generative AI! You will be leveraging innovative models to build applications on top of Apple's most advanced technologies, while developing your expertise in Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR/VR).

Gurman believes that there will eventually be an on-device way to develop apps for Apple's mixed-reality headset, which is expected to be unveiled at the company's WWDC keynote next week.

In January, The Information reported that Apple is working on new software tools that will allow both developers and customers to create augmented reality apps for its headset, including via Siri. From the report:

With the software tools, Apple hopes that even people who don't know computer code could tell the headset, via the Siri voice assistant, to build an AR app that could then be made available via Apple's App Store for others to download. The tool, for example, could allow users to build an app with virtual animals moving around a room and over or around real-life objects without the need to design the animal from scratch, program its animations and calculate its movement in a 3D space with obstacles.

Last month, it emerged that Apple was hiring for at least a dozen new experts in generative AI amid rumors that the company is stepping up its work on AI. The Apple job listings sought a range of machine learning specialists "passionate about building extraordinary autonomous systems." The openings were for positions in the Integrated System Experience, Input Experience NLP, Machine Learning R&D, and Technology Development Group.

Some of the roles, such as a Visual Generative Modeling Research Engineer, specifically involve work on "visual generative modeling to power applications across computation photography, image and video editing, 3D shape and motion reconstruction, avatar generation, and much more."

Following the launch of an official ChatGPT app for iPhone, it emerged that Apple has banned employees from using such utilities due to security concerns and work on its own similar technology. In March, DigiTimes reported that Apple is "re-examining" its work on artificial intelligence. The company is now believed to be testing generative AI concepts that could one day be destined for ‌Siri‌.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has confirmed that Apple is nearing the introduction of what appears to be a refreshed Mac Studio model, indicating that it could be announced at WWDC next week.

On Twitter, Gurman explained that the new Mac in question is codenamed "J475." The current ‌Mac Studio‌ is codenamed "J375," suggesting that the new machine is indeed a next-generation ‌Mac Studio‌ model.

Earlier this week, Gurman reported that Apple is testing two desktop Macs equipped with the M2 Max and ‌‌M2‌‌ Ultra chips. The ‌M2‌ Max was released in January upon the launch of the latest 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro models, but the ‌M2‌ Ultra chip is new and would succeed the M1 Ultra chip that Apple uses in the ‌Mac Studio‌.

According to Gurman, the ‌M2‌ Max Mac in testing features eight high-performance cores, four efficiency cores, a 30-core GPU, and 96GB RAM. This is the same as the chip in the ‌M2‌ Max version of the 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌.

The ‌M2‌ Ultra Mac apparently has 16 high-performance cores and 8 efficiency cores, and a 60-core GPU, though prior information suggests that the ‌M2‌ Ultra could feature up to 76 GPU cores. Different configurations feature 64GB, 128GB, and 192GB of memory.

Apple is believed to be testing these new Macs just days ahead of the WWDC keynote, and Gurman says that he expects multiple Macs to be introduced at the event, including an all-new 15-inch MacBook Air model. Gurman has stopped short of saying the new ‌Mac Studio‌ will be introduced at WWDC, but it seems highly likely at this point.

"Stray," an adventure game that lets players take on the role of a cat, will soon be available on the Mac. Introduced in 2022, Stray has previously been limited to Windows machines and PlayStation consoles.

In Stray, a stray cat finds himself stuck in a walled city filled with robots and mutant bacteria. The cat must make his way back up to the surface with the help of B-12, his drone companion.

Stray offers third-person gameplay and it requires players to solve puzzles, bypass obstacles, and complete quests while avoiding monsters like Zurks (evil bacteria) and Sentinels (security bots). Much of the game is platform-based, involving climbing up various obstacles and interacting with the environment to open up new pathways. There are cat behaviors too, of course, such as sneaking, sleeping, meowing, and nuzzling up to NPCs to get pets.

On the Mac, Stray will take advantage of MetalFX Upscaling for accelerated graphics performance with high quality visuals, and it will be available to play on Apple silicon Macs.

There is no launch date for Stray as of yet, but it is coming to the Mac "this year."

Stray for Mac will follow the launch of No Man's Sky for Mac, which is available on Apple silicon machines as of today.

Windows users will want to make sure that they are running the latest version of iTunes, iTunes 12.12.9, in order to gain protection from a recently uncovered security vulnerability.

Apple released iTunes 12.12.9 on May 23, and it fixes an issue that could allow malicious apps to gain elevated privileges to install malware on a Windows machine. While the vulnerability was addressed last week, Synopsys, the security company that discovered the problem, today shared some details on how it worked.

iTunes had a privileged folder with weak access control, allowing a malicious person to redirect the folder creation to the Windows system directory, which could then be used to obtain a higher-privileged system shell.

The iTunes application creates a folder, SC Info, in the C:\ProgramData\Apple Computer\iTunes directory as a system user and gives full control over this directory to all users. After the installation, the first user to run the iTunes application can delete the SC Info folder, create a link to the Windows system folder, and re-create the folder by forcing an MSI repair, which can be later used to gain Windows SYSTEM level access.

All versions of iTunes prior to 12.12.9 are impacted by this vulnerability, and so iTunes users who are running older versions of the software should make sure to update.

Synopsys first discovered the problem in September 2022, and told Apple about it at that point. Apple confirmed the vulnerability in November, and then patched it in May. Apple did not say that this exploit was known to have been used in the wild so it is not as critical as some other vulnerabilities, but it is still a good idea to install the latest version of iTunes right away.

Targus today announced the launch of the Cypress Hero Backpack with built-in Find My integration that works with the ‌Find My‌ app on Apple devices.

Priced at $150, Targus says that the backpack combines eco-friendly materials, laptop protection, and a built-in location feature to keep tech items safe. The backpack can be tracked through the Items tab in the ‌Find My‌ app, right alongside AirTags and other trackers.

There is a padded laptop compartment that fits laptops up to 15.6 inches in size, a main compartment for files and gear, a smaller pocket for accessories, and a quick-stash pocket at the front. It features a 22L capacity and a padded back panel for a comfortable fit.

The included ‌Find My‌ location module uses a CR2032 battery much like an AirTag, and the battery should last up to 300 days depending on usage.

Targus first announced the Find My-compatible backpack in November 2021 and showed it off at CES 2022, and it appears to have taken well over a year for the accessory to actually launch. This is not the first ‌Find My‌ backpack on the market, as Hyper (owned by Targus) also has a Find My-enabled backpack.

The Cypress Hero Backpack can be purchased from the Targus website as of today.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Targus. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Apple is planning to expand on its Apple Store efforts, introducing a number of new retail locations worldwide and overhauling several stores in the United States, reports Bloomberg.

There are 15 new stores coming to the Asia-Pacific region, five stores coming to Europe and the Middle East, and four stores coming to the U.S. and Canada. Another 28 stores in Asia, Europe, and North America will be revamped or relocated, with Apple working on the updates through 2027.

Three of the Asia-Pacific stores will be in India, one will be in Malaysia, two will be in South Korea, and one will be at the Jing'an Temple Plaza in Shanghai, with Apple also planning to overhaul its Shinsaibashi store in Osaka, Japan. In Europe, Apple plans to upgrade its Paris Opéra location and open new stores at the Battersea Power Station in London and La Vaguada in Madrid.

New Apple retail locations are coming to Miami, Detroit, and Torrance, California, while stores in New Jersey, Alabama, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Ohio, Georgia, and Missouri will be relocated.

Apple recently redid Apple Tysons Corner in Virginia, introducing a total overhaul of its first-ever Apple retail location. The store features a physical Genius Bar, a flexible hardware space, and an in-person Apple Watch Studio, and it's possible that some of these features could come to the new stores that are planned.

Bloomberg says that Apple is primarily updating older, smaller stores, with full details on specific locations for the new stores available from the site.

Apple plans to add the original 12-inch MacBook to its obsolete products list on June 30, according to an internal memo obtained by MacRumors. Once classified as obsolete, the laptop will no longer be eligible for repairs or service at Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers, as parts will no longer be available.

Apple classifies a product as technologically obsolete once more than seven years have passed since the company stopped distributing it for sale. The original 12-inch MacBook was discontinued in April 2016 upon the release of a second-generation model with improved specs, so the laptop recently crossed that seven-year mark.

Introduced in March 2015, the 12-inch MacBook featured a thin and light design that weighed just two pounds, and it was also Apple's first fanless notebook. Pricing started at $1,299, with the original model's standard specs including a 1.1GHz dual-core Intel Core M processor, integrated Intel graphics, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD.

Key design aspects of the 12-inch MacBook included a single USB-C port for charging and data transfer, an all-new Force Touch trackpad, and a terraced battery design that allowed for a larger battery to fit inside the notebook's thin chassis.

Unfortunately, the 12-inch MacBook was also the first MacBook model to feature Apple's infamous butterfly switch keyboard design, which is prone to failure and was eventually dropped from the entire MacBook lineup after years of complaints and lawsuits. Apple last updated the 12-inch MacBook in June 2017, and it was discontinued in July 2019.

Apple today released the second beta of macOS Ventura 13.5 to its public beta testing group, allowing the general public to try out the software ahead of its official launch. The macOS Ventura 13.5 public beta comes a few days after Apple provided the second beta to developers.

Public beta testers can download the macOS 13.5 Ventura update from the Software Update section of the System Preferences app after installing the proper profile from Apple's beta software website.

There is no word as of yet on what's included in macOS Ventura 13.5, and no notable new features were found in the developer betas.

We're expecting to see Apple unveil macOS 14 in just a few days at WWDC, and macOS 13.5 should be one of the last updates to Ventura that will tide users over until the public release of macOS 14 later this year.

Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS 16.6 and iPadOS 16.6 updates to public beta testers, allowing non-developers to test out the software head of its official launch. The public betas come just a day after Apple provided the second betas to developers.

Those who have signed up their accounts for Apple's free beta testing program can enable the beta by opening up the Settings app, going to General, selecting Software Update, tapping on Beta Updates, and selecting the iOS 16 Public Beta option.

iOS 16.6 seems to be a relatively minor update, although Apple does appear to be laying the groundwork for the launch of the previously announced iMessage Contact Key Verification feature.

Development on iOS 16 is slowing down as Apple prepares for the unveiling of iOS 17 in just a few days at WWDC, and iOS 16.6 is likely to be one of the last updates to iOS 16 before the public release of iOS 17 expected in September.

Apple has also seeded a new beta of watchOS 9.6 to public beta testers.

Apple Card customers who have opted to create a high-yield Apple Savings account through Goldman Sachs have been experiencing issues attempting to withdraw their money, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.

Multiple customers who transferred thousands of dollars to the Apple Savings account have had to wait weeks for money transfers in some cases, and some customers have also had money disappear. Kevin Smyth from Minnesota, for example, attempted to transfer $10,000 from his Apple account to U.S. Bank in mid-May, but Goldman Sachs would not complete the transfer.

Customer representatives suggested he contact U.S. Bank, but U.S. Bank said there was no incoming transaction. Later, he was told that Goldman Sachs had placed his account under a security review. Another customer, Nathan Thacker of Atlanta, tried to transfer $17,000 from his Apple Savings account to JPMorgan Chase on May 15, and it took more than two weeks for the transaction to complete.

In a statement to The Wall Street Journal, Goldman Sachs said some customers had experienced delays due to security processes designed to protect customer deposits.

"The customer response to the new savings account for Apple Card users has been excellent and beyond our expectations. While the vast majority of customers see no delays in transferring their funds, in a limited number of cases, a user may experience a delayed transfer due to processes in place designed to help protect their accounts."

According to The ‌Wall Street Journal‌, transferring large amounts of money that make up much of a newly-opened account's balance can trigger anti-money-laundering alerts, resulting in delays that last around five days. Some of the issues may be caused by the newness of the Savings account.

Apple Savings account users who have had issues and who have contacted Goldman Sachs have said that the customer service has been poor, with customers receiving varying information with each call.

Opening a high-yield Apple Savings account requires an ‌Apple Card‌, and it offers a competitive 4.15 percent interest rate. Opening up a new savings account takes just minutes to do, and it is also designed to aggregate all Daily Cash earned through the ‌Apple Card‌.

Apple's latest Apple Pay promotion will see the company partnering with McDonald's to offer users a free McChicken sandwich when Apple Cash is used for a purchase.

To get the free McChicken, iPhone users will need to spend $1 or more in Apple Cash through ‌Apple Pay‌ in the McDonald's app. The promotion is available from now through June 7.

Apple Cash can be earned from using the Apple Card cash back feature, or it can be added to the ‌iPhone‌ with a debit card. Apple Cash can also be sent to friends and family members through the Messages app.

Facebook parent company Meta today announced the Quest 3, its next-generation mixed reality headset launching later this year. The announcement comes just days ahead of WWDC, where Apple is expected to unveil its own long-awaited AR/VR headset.

Meta said the Quest 3 features a 40% slimmer and more comfortable design, a higher-resolution display, and up to twice the graphics performance as the Quest 2, released in 2020. The headset will start at $499.99 with 128GB of storage, and Meta will also be lowering the starting price of the Quest 2 back to $299.99 on June 4. The company plans to share more details about the Quest 3 during its Meta Connect event on September 27.

Apple's headset is rumored to cost around $3,000, so the Quest 3 could be significantly cheaper. Meta also said the Quest 3 has an all-in-one design, whereas Apple's headset will reportedly include an external battery pack that attaches with a wire.

In his newsletter last weekend, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman provided hands-on impressions of the Quest 3 before it was announced. He said that he "came away impressed with the mixed-reality focus of the Quest 3, the much-improved video pass-through capabilities, the faster performance and the large content library."

Apple's AirTag 4-Pack has dropped to $79.99 today on Verizon, down from $99.00 [matched at Amazon]. Anyone can take advantage of this deal on Verizon, even if you don't have a Verizon cellular plan. The retailer offers free two-day shipping and also has same-day pick-up options.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Verizon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

This is the best price we've seen on the AirTag 4-Pack so far in 2023, and right now only Verizon has the sale. We aren't currently tracking any deals on the AirTag 1-Pack.

In addition to the AirTag sale, Verizon is hosting an accessory discount event with savings on Bluetooth speakers, iPhone cases, MagSafe-compatible chargers, and more. This also includes the AirPods Pro 2 for $199.99, down from $249.00.

AirTag provides a way to keep track of your items in the iOS Find My app, with a way to play a sound on the built-in speaker to find something locally or with precision finding when it's farther away. Be sure to visit our full Deals Roundup to shop for even more Apple-related products and accessories.

Update: Amazon is now matching the price on the AirTag 4-Pack.

Apple today published its latest iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 adoption statistics, as measured by devices that transacted on the App Store on May 30. The numbers come just days ahead of WWDC, where Apple is expected to announce iOS 17.

Most importantly, Apple says 81% of all active iPhones are now running iOS 16, up from 72% in February. 13% of active iPhones are still running iOS 15, and 6% are running an even older iOS version, according to the data. iOS 16 was released to the public in September and is compatible with the iPhone 8 and newer.

Apple adds that 71% of all active iPads are now running iPadOS 16, up from 50% in February.

Around the same time last year, Apple revealed that 82% of all active iPhones were running iOS 15, so the usage statistics are very similar on a year-over-year basis. iOS 16 adoption will start to decline next week after Apple makes the first beta of iOS 17 available to members of its $99-per-year Developer Program for testing.

The action-adventure survival game "No Man's Sky" is now available for the Mac on Steam, with "another surprise" from studio Hello Games to follow in the "near future."

At WWDC last year, Apple announced that No Man's Sky would be available for the iPad and Mac would by the end of 2022. Hello Games missed that deadline and the game is finally available for the Mac as of today. Hello Games founder Sean Murray teased two upcoming Apple-related announcements earlier this week. Today, Murray seemingly confirmed that the launch for Mac is one of the two teased announcements, meaning another is soon to follow.

While the second announcement is likely to be the release of No Man's Sky for ‌iPad‌ given that title was announced alongside the Mac version at WWDC last year, the tease leans into speculation that Hello Games could be working on a game for Apple's mixed-reality headset, which is widely expected to be announced at WWDC in less than a week.

No Man's Sky is already available on multiple VR platforms, including on PC and PlayStation VR. When the game was demoed at WWDC last year, it was played on a Mac with the M1 chip. Since Apple's headset is rumored to feature at least one chip that is based on the M2 chip in addition to a dedicated image signal processor, it should be more than capable of running the game.

Hello Games has also worked with Apple to publish games on Apple Arcade. Given Apple's discussions with Hello Games in recent years, No Man's Sky being among the initial wave of games available on Apple's mixed-reality headset is not out of the question.

While some rumors have suggested Apple's headset is not particularly focused on gaming, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has repeatedly referred to gaming, media, and communication as the three main priorities of the device. Apple has reportedly been working with a number of gaming developers to help them update their existing content for mixed reality and the company is expected to provide a robust set of developer tools for creating experiences for the headset.

No Man's Sky is available for the Mac now on Steam, with a release on the Mac App Store to soon follow.

Swedish automaker Polestar today announced that it is releasing a software update to all existing Polestar 2 vehicles to add new Apple CarPlay features, including full-screen Apple Maps in the driver display.

Polestar and its parent brand Volvo, which announced this update a couple of weeks ago, appear to be the second automaker to support display of ‌Apple Maps‌ and navigation information projected from ‌CarPlay‌ in the driver display. BMW was the first automaker to include the extended CarPlay feature in its Polestar 2 rival, the BMW i4, in 2021.

Some vehicles with Apple ‌CarPlay‌ already feature limited turn-by-turn directional information fed from ‌Apple Maps‌ on the driver display, but full integration of ‌Apple Maps‌ into the instrument cluster is still very uncommon.

The P2.9 over-the-air update also brings additional phone and media information from Apple ‌CarPlay‌ to to the Polestar 2's home screen tile, support for managing phone calls in Apple ‌CarPlay‌ using the steering wheel buttons, and projection of calls in the driver display.

In addition, the update includes improvements to Polestar's Range Assistant app and the introduction of an integrated YouTube app. The new ‌CarPlay‌ experience and the YouTube app will be installed by default on all newly produced cars.

Apple ‌CarPlay‌ in the Polestar 2 remains wired only, with no support for wireless ‌CarPlay‌. The Polestar 2 also does not support Apple's EV routing and state of charge integration features, as offered on the Ford Mustang Mach E and Porsche Taycan.

Update: Updated to note that Volvo also announced these features with the same software version.

Apple is testing two desktop Macs that are equipped with M2 Max and ‌M2‌ Ultra chips, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. The ‌M2‌ Max chip first came out in January with the launch of the 2023 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models, but the ‌M2‌ Ultra chip is new and would succeed the M1 Ultra chip that Apple uses in the Mac Studio.

Gurman does not know which specific Macs will feature the chips, but the machines are labeled as "Mac 14,13" and "Mac 14,14" internally. Previous rumors have suggested that the revamped Apple silicon Mac Pro could include the ‌M2‌ Ultra chip, the ‌Mac Pro‌ that Apple is developing is labeled as "14,8" internally, so the desktop machines in testing now are likely something else, perhaps new versions of the ‌Mac Studio‌. Apple is also working on new iMacs, but these are expected to feature M3 chips.

Back in April, Gurman said that there were updated ‌Mac Studio‌ machines planned for a future launch, but he also said that it was unlikely that Apple would release a version of the ‌Mac Studio‌ with an ‌M2‌ Ultra chip because it would be as powerful as the future ‌Mac Pro‌, giving customers little reason to opt for a ‌Mac Pro‌.

The first machine that Apple has been testing includes an ‌M2‌ Max chip with eight high-performance cores, four efficiency cores, a 30-core GPU, and 96GB RAM. The chip is the same as the chip that's in the ‌M2‌ Max version of the 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌.

The second machine has an ‌M2‌ Ultra chip with a 24-core CPU (16 high-performance cores and 8 efficiency cores) and a 60-core GPU, though prior information suggests that ‌M2‌ Ultra chips could feature up to a 76-core GPU. Different configurations feature 64GB, 128GB, and 192GB RAM.

Apple is testing these new Macs just ahead of WWDC, and Gurman says that he expects multiple Macs to be introduced at the event. One of those will be the 15-inch MacBook Air, but we don't know which other Macs might appear. Gurman stops short of suggesting these new Macs with ‌M2‌ Max and ‌M2‌ Ultra chips will be introduced at WWDC, but it seems like a distinct possibility.